Global cosmetics packaging provider HCP bought up by investment company

10-Jul-2012 - Last updated on 11-Jul-2012 at 10:19 GMT

China-based international cosmetics packaging player HCP Holdings has been bought out by US private equity fund TPG Capital -a move that is likely to fund its expansion into Europe.

The company was bought for an estimated $600m (€490m) in a buyout that should provide new investment in the business to ensure its future growth, according to a report published by Thomson Reuters publication Basis Points.

HCP currently has five production sites worldwide, including its showcase Shanghai facility - which has the largest production capacity and was opened in 2006 – together with major sites in the US and Mexico.

The company’s US plant is in New Hampshire, and has witnessed considerable manufacturing growth thanks to its focus on mascara components, which have proved increasingly popular in recent years.

Expansion into Europe

Building on its global presence, it has also said that it wants to construct a new facility in Europe in an effort to get closer to that market, an ambition that presumably will now be funded with the help of its new owner.

A European production facility would give the company greater global leverage, building on significant recent growth. From 2007 to 2011 sales grew from approximately $102m to $160m, while this momentum is predicted to be maintained with forecasts predicting revenue of $185m for the fiscal year 2012.

HCP is a private producer of cosmetics and personal care packaging, and has a key area of specialisation in the prestige and upper end mass market categories, citing L’Oreal and Shiseido amongst its leading customers.

Aiming to grow its global share of the plastic packaging market

It supplies its packaging all over the world and is estimated to have a 3 per cent share of the global market for cosmetic plastics packaging.

It was established in the early 1960s in Taiwan, but its headquarters were moved to Shanghai in 1989, from where it was able to tap into growing worldwide demand for its products, as well as expansion in the domestic market in more recent years.

Although TGP Capital specialises in buying up struggling companies and turning them around, HCP has been a success story that should be given a considerable boost through the injection of investment from its new owners, ensuring further expansion.